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Gerald R. Ford-class Nuclear Aircraft Carrier
USS_Gerald_R_Ford.jpg|USS/AFS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), lead ship in the class. USS_John_F_Kennedy.jpg|USS/AFS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) TedBall.JPG|USS Theodore Ball (CVN-81) is a heavily modified Ford-class carrier and first of the Flight II variant.. "No matter what the situation is, it would be a sign of strength for the name when it is mentioned. Mr. President, Admiral Phantom, '''Gerald R. Ford' stands ready, awaiting your orders." -Commodore/Upper Rear Admiral Gerald R. Ford III at the ''Gerald R. Ford's commissioning on September 1, 2014 in Norfolk, Virginia. About The Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carriers are the newest and most advanced aircraft carriers of the 21st Century. Originally, they were slow and less armed but are now better at defense and anti-aircraft skills. History The Ford-class was under development in the United States Navy since the Nimitz-class was commissioned. While the name of the class was not decided at the time, it was known as the CVN-21 Program. In 2006, Gerald R. Ford III, who just got promoted to captain, was with his dying grandfather, former US President Gerald Ford, in Michigan where he got the perfect name for the class. After his death, he suggested to the Secretary of the Navy to name CVN-78 after the late president, which was accepted. CVN-79 was originally gonna be named either Arizona on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2007, or Barry M. Goldwater, the late Arizona senator, in 2009. It was later changed to John F. Kennedy ''in 2011. Construction of the ''Ford ''would not begin until December 1, 2012, the same day USS ''Enterprise (CVN-65) was inactivated, when the keel was laid and steel started to form the hull. That same day, CVN-80 was announced to be named Enterprise, continuing on the legacy of the historic name. Construction went at a really fast pace for CVN-78 and was 75% completed by the end of 2013. Kennedy ''was laid down on November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assasination, and was 30% completed on New Years Day 2014. ''Ford ''was launched and commissioned on September 1, 2014 in Newport News, Virginia with Commodore Ford in command. Two days after, the ship joined the Armada of Freedom, the navy Ford was welcomed to, where he became a fleet admiral (he gave his possition to Alexander Kovalev when he joined, and became an Upper Rear Admiral). ''Gerald R. Ford first saw action in the AEON Invasion of New Belkan as the fleet's command ship. During construction, John F. Kennedy was given two Mk 45 5" turrets, a 5" double barrel turret, 8 Harpoon missile launchers and an advanced flight deck design which gave the Navy an idea. The Ford ''returned to Newport News on October 2nd along with the battleships ''Hawaii and America to be refitted. On the 13th, a bolt of lightning hit the carrier island along with several pieces of equiptment, causing the equiptment and the second flight deck turret to explode. Repairs were completed four days later and the ship was launched back into the James River, followed by the commissioning of John F. Kennedy '' and the relaunching of the two ''Hawaii-class ships. At Kennedy's commissioning ceremony, Ford was there to commission CVN-79 into the AF fleet. They later rejoined the fleet during the ANF's AIF Breakout Campaign. On November 12, 2014, U.S Commodore Proud launched and commissioned his addition to the Ford-class: USS Theodore Ball CVN-81. Unlike her sister ships, she is the largest ship in the class and is the only Flight II variant. She also is the only ship that doesn't serve with her sisters in the AF. Ships in Class Awards Weapons *2x Mk 45 5" turrets *1x Dual Barrel 5" mini turrets *8x Harpoon missile launchers *2x Pharlanx Anti-Aircraft remote control guns *x EA-18G Growler Fighters *x F-22 Raptor Fighters *x VF-1 Valkyrie Fighters *Advanced AEGIS Radar (CVN-81 only) Trivia *The Ford-class was the number 1 ship Harmonmj13 wanted to build. *The AIF's ''All Under Heaven''-class carriers are based off the Ford-class. *It took 16 days in real life for Harmonmj13 to rebuild the ship in Hansa. *The Ford-class is one of the four classes that Harmonmj13 scratch built that is based off a real life vessel (the other three are the Los Angeles, Arleigh Burke ''and ''Virginia-classes). *During the Hansa rebuild, USS Enterprise CVN-65 allowed Harmonmj13 to use the All Under Heaven's hull design, which he credited. *Harmonmj13 is considering on building the Nimitz-class using the same hull as the Ford. *In RP, Gerald R. Ford brought several aircraft and land vehicles from the US to the AF when commissioned. * Theodore Ball is the only heavily upgraded Ford-class carrier but it is considered as the Ford-''class Flight II. * ''Theodore Ball is the only Ford-class carrier to not serve in the Armada of Freedom. * Only one ship in the class (Theodore Ball) was not made by Harmonmj13. * Gerald R. Ford is the only ship to have two homeports. * Two carriers were built as prototypes for the Ford-class refit, named Freedom and Liberator, '' were planned to become CVN-82 and CVN-83. They would later be stolen by IRF member Marcus Ackerman, renamed to the ''Deathstroke-class, and refitted with a VLS launcher and two more aircraft catapults. Category:Vessel Classes by Harmonmj13 Category:United States Ships